Can You Hear Me Now?

So, my scooter is dead. Medi-Chair is coming by tomorrow to pick it up and take it into their shop for repairs. They are leaving me with a loaner, thank God, because this is NOT the time for me to be without a scooter. I just hope it has a basket big enough to carry all the loot I want/need to buy!

I don’t have any updates about family shopping, because I couldn’t do any more today. However, AH came by and gave me $20 and I received a cheque for $100 from my old boss, so the money is coming in! Yay! I think another $200 or so (over and above what’s been promised to me, that I haven’t seen yet) and I will be able to get them everything I wanted to! Except, you know, cookware like this. She may have to settle for something a little less extravagant.

So please… if you haven’t already, help me Pay it Forward! If everyone reading gave $10, I’d be able to fly them to Hawaii for the New Year. Hehe . And my Ego.

I did get over to the mall today, though. My brother came by and we pulled out the ol’ manual wheelchair and he pushed me over. I just needed some bottled water, and I finally picked up some pictures that had been sitting in Wal-Mart for two weeks. So you get cat pics today. Also, a very nice Wal-Mart greeter de-magnetized my coat. I bought my coat there a few weeks ago, and every time I go in or out their doors I ::dingdingdingdingding:: I have to stop and pull out my receipt and prove I paid for everything, every goddamn time. It was very annoying. I wasn’t sure if it was my coat or my scooter or what. But when we went in today with my wheelchair, and it happened again, I knew it was my coat. After all this time, someone finally offered to de-magnetize it, and 3 seconds later it was done, and no more setting off alarms. That was so easy. Why didn’t someone offer to de-magnetize me before?? They only see it happening every bloody day on a fairly regular basis. Anyway, alls well that ends well.

Next week I promise to upload photos of all the family loot I’ve bought. I’ll be getting more this weekend! Wheeeee!! It’s like I said to my brother today, I enjoy shopping for other people SO MUCH, that by doing this project y’all are giving ME the best Christmas ever. I wouldn’t be able to do this without your help, so thank you from the bottom of my heart. I’m having lots of fun with it. I expect to get a call from an organizer soon about when exactly they need it by, but I’m expecting Dec. 18 or 19. I wish I could deliver it personally and see their faces. They will, however, be getting a card with the first names and locations of everyone that donated so they know how many people out there, all over the world, (I’m looking at you, Melany) care about them.

Tomorrow is an eventful day. I’m working at the Pub and then my parents are picking me up and we’re heading to the chiropractor. While I’m gone, I’ll be getting deliveries of healthy food and the loaner scooter (pleasepleaseplease let it be decent, with a basket!) I’ll stop in the health food store beside my Chiro’s office too, for more Larabars because I must have one every day. Then we’ll probably go for dinner, and if I can resist I’ll stay in the rest of the evening, but I may go shopping. I mean… Friday nights the mall is pretty quiet, right? Good time to shop.

I came across this MySpace profile because he hotlinked to a picture of Calgary I have in my blog. Of course, now he hotlinks to this, but whatever.

Anyway, I think it’s worth a laugh. I don’t generally make fun of people, but… he’s just asking for it in my books. Don’t you agree?

I sort of lied when I said I would start shopping for the family on Wednesday. I did not realize that it takes PayPal a few days to transfer funds into your bank account. Oops! I want to get another $40 or so in there before I transfer it anyway, so that it’s a free transfer. So whatcha waiting for??

I did do a bit of shopping today with my own money anyway, and I expect to have more by the weekend to continue. Today I went to Winners and picked up a few things for the girls:

• 6 year old girl - pink sweater, Bratz Sportz doll, a big box of 5,700 cute stickers (yes, fifty-seven hundred! And they’re so cute!)
• 10 year old girl - pink sweater/hoodie, a craft kit with beads and flowers to make rings and bracelets, and a porcelain tea set.

That all cost $57.19. I’m a good shopper. I want to get lots for the kids first (eeeee! Shopping for little girls is so fun!), although I saw a great make-up kit recently that I’ll get the mom if there are any left. Although I don’t know her skin tone or colour, so that part could be tricky.

I actually really want to shop for the mom because I could go NUTS with that. A 30 year old woman that doesn’t have everything? Sooooo easy to buy for. Got that, men who are with 30 year old women and don’t know what to buy them?? Email me, I’ll tell you.

Oh, here’s a good one for me!!

Today my friend Kim came in to town from Red Deer to get her passport. After spending her morning waiting around the Government offices to get that done, she came by. She gave me a Christmas present, and yes, I opened it because I like opening them with the person who gave it to me, and it was a framed picture of a sunflower field!! Oh, and she got me a Hummingbird, as mentioned in these comments. Not a sex toy, people. My gift for Kim is in the mail. When I orderd two (one for me) they only sent one, so the other isn’t here yet (and I didn’t know when I was seeing Kim, otherwise I would have saved mine for her). But I showed her what I got her anyway, and no she can’t have mine, because it’s a book and I started reading it and folding over pages and everything.

Then we went for lunch. I have been craving Vietnamese food, because I love it and also because there are rice noodles involved and I can HAVE THOSE, and it has been ages since I’ve been to my favourite place where I order “#50, satay”. So we did that, thankyoukim. Then we hit a bank machine so I could deposit a cheque and go shopping. We went to Winners and shopped, and then to Second Cup for lattes, and now I’m home. I need to head out again because I want to pick up that make up kit before they’re sold out, and I need transit tickets before I go out tomorrow.

Sorry, no cat pictures today! I’m all out, and was waiting for the cheque I got today to buy more film, but I’m not sure I can now because I’d rather Family Shop hehe. I still need to get myself a digital camera I can use with one hand, the left one. If I had one I would take pictures of the goodies I’m buying for the family and upload them every day! Argh! That would be great. I will, however, take pictures and upload them another day, the old fashioned way.

Anyway, more Family Updates to follow! Keep the contributions coming, I want to spend your money!

Oh, and props to Robyn for sending tons of traffic my way!

Another update on my lying, 8:00 pm: I just got back from shopping a bit for the Mom and Dad. I bought a make-up kit for mom (lots of lipsticks, lip glosses, eye shadows, blushes, nail polishes) and a full make-up brush set. For dad, 5 pairs of socks (beige, navy, black) and a dark blue sort of cordury buttoned shirt. Total cost, $52.89. That means I spent about $110 today. Not bad, and something for everyone. We’ve only just begun!

Oh, oh, oh, and GUESS what happened to me on my way home?? Here I am, doing a good deed, shopping for a needy family. And how does Karma kick me in the ass?? My scooter died in the middle of the parking lot. Seriously. Just… stopped. I had to push it home, which was not fun or easy. The battery has been acting a little freaky on me lately, so I guess it was coming. But after talking to my Stepdad he seems to think the battery may just be loose, so hopefully my brother can take a look at it when he comes by this week. I shall prevail!! You cannot keep me from shopping!!

I finally have my Pay it Forward family! Here are the details if you’re planning to just buy stuff and get it to me (mainly for my local friends, but anyone is welcome to mail me something for them as well!)

“A family of four; mom and dad are both hard working and just trying to make ends meet. Family is Vegetarian and lives close to NE Superstore.” (That’s actually really close to me!)

Wish list:

Mother, age 30 - cooking utensils, pots & pans, dishes, make-up;
Father - size Medium - gloves, hat, shirts, socks;
Girl age 6 - Clothes size 7, books, Barbies, Bratz (Donna’s note: oh no!). Likes pink and blue;
Girl age 10 - Clothes size 12, books, puzzles, craft kits. Likes pink and blue.

Absolutely not an outrageous wish list! They are going to get all that and more. You guys and your contributions are freakin’ awesome! Thanks so much! Keep it coming… I’m going to start shopping on Wednesday!! I’ll keep you posted on what I buy.

So, you ask, what’s going on with me… not much. The weather and roads have cleared up, thank God, because I was getting tired of waiting forever for my Access trips. Last week my rides were crazy late, one of them over an hour and a half, and that was considered “not bad”. You know, when it snows like that, and the roads are really bad, you can expect traffic to be held up. The people who schedule for Access should know that, too. Why they don’t adjust their schedules accordingly during a week of bad weather is beyond me. But who am I, besides just another number in their system who waited an hour and a half? I feel for the people going for their kidney dialysis or coming home from a chemo treatment. I’m not in the best of shape after waiting so long myself, but I’m sure I’m better off than they are!

I haven’t really written a regular entry in a couple weeks! I wish I had more to tell you, but my life is rather boring these days. I had a Christmas dinner with one of my client’s and his employees and spouses, and YAY I wasn’t the only single one there for the first time. I ordered a chicken stir fry on rice, which is about the safest thing I can order in any restaurant now, besides salads, and as I’ve mentioned before, blah. I even brought my own lunch when I went to work there last week. I’ve pretty much got the no wheat/dairy/refined sugar thing down, now if I could just deal with the emotional cravings for junk food I’d have it made.

My brother has been sick and hasn’t been able to make his regular weekly visit You know what that means? It took me two days to change my bed sheets, write out my rent cheque (a several hour event, with my hand!), and take out the garbage. I didn’t even attempt to vacuum, screw that! My Stepdad picked up my bottled water for me because there’s no way I can lift that. Hopefully my brother will make it by this week! It’s such a huge help to me. Plus, we get to spend some quality time together, but I’m sure he misses my cats more than me. hehe. He has taken a real liking to them. As does everyone who comes in contact with them, unless they’re allergic or hate cats. Or have been woken up at 4:00 in the morning because the cats think that’s a good time to find a toy with bells on it and bring it onto your bed to play with it.

“Pita, on my shoulder, makes me happy….”

There are just too many interesting things on my shelves for them to stay clear.

They have yet to knock anything off, though, so I’m “allowing” them. Ahahahaha yeah right. Just like I “allow” them on the kitchen counters.

Judging by the look on Pita’s face and the black cord, she was about to make a beeline up the hall away from that vacuum monster.

Finally! I am able to post about this because I just got the call related to what I’m planning.

Did any of you watch Oprah last week, when she showed the results of her “Pay It Forward” challenge? For those of you that didn’t see it or can’t be bothered to click that link, one day in October she gave each member of her studio audience $1,000 and a video camera. The catch was, they had to spend the money on total strangers, and they had one week to do it and capture it on film.

It was incredibly inspiring. Some people did basic things like give the $1,000 to one deserving family, whereas others did amazing things like turn that $1,000 into thousands and thousands of dollars for various families, schools and projects in their communities.

The idea is, by giving, you get back tenfold - nothing is better than the feeling you get when you help others. And the good karma points can’t hurt, either.

So, to celebrate my 300th blog post, and my personal record-breaking month of November (over 2,200 unique visitors, 46,000 hits, which is big time for me!) I want to start my own Pay It Forward project. I wanted to do this without the aid of an agency, because I actually wanted to see the faces of the people I’m helping, but it didn’t work out that way because I couldn’t find my “own” family. However, I still get to experience the joy of shopping for the toys, clothes, housewares, food, etc. myself and know I’m helping a family out!

So this is what I have done. Through an Adopt-a-Family agency, I’m going to be receiving (by Monday or Tuesday) a “wish list” of items that this family needs. I told them I’m partial to single mothers that are struggling to get by with 2-3 kids, so they’re going to match me up with one, and then I get to go shopping. (Update: I got a family of 4, mom, dad and two little girls, working hard just trying to make ends meet). The wish lists will contain everything from clothing/shoe sizes of the kids to necessities they need for the home (bedding, dishes), to Sony Playstations and iPods (it is, after all, a wish list. They realize they may not get everything!)

I also want to throw in things like a Spa Day gift certificate for mom, department store gift cards, and cash. There is no limit to what I can put in this hamper. Yahoo! (Although, if I get LOTS of money, I’ll help more than one family, for sure).

This is where all y’all come in, because I personally do not have the money to buy these things. And I know we could all use a little Pay It Forward karma and mushy feelings.

I know that sounds like a tall order, but dream big or go home! WE CAN DO THIS! I HAVE FAITH! I realize by using my own (or, I should say, MS With Attitude’s) PayPal account there is no proof that this money is going to go to this family… all you can do is Trust Me. Those of you that know me in real life or have corresponded with me through email, or even if you’ve just been reading my blog for awhile, should know that there is no way in hell I’m going to take the money and run.

I want this family to have the most incredible Christmas ever, and I’m asking for your help!! Please give whatever you can, every dollar will go towards the things they need, and I will keep you up to date on what I’ve bought! If you don’t want to use PayPal and would rather mail me a cheque, or even send toys, clothes, books, etc., email me and I will send you details on how to go about doing that, and what is needed (when I get their list). Basically my PayPal account has not been used to receive money for MS With Attitude in eons, so every penny that goes in there over the next few weeks will be for this. Any Email money transfers sent to the above address (email me separately with the secret question/answer!) will be for this. If you own a business in Calgary and can help out with gift certificates or raising money, let me know! If you have a blog or journal, please post a link to this entry in your next entry. Email it to everyone you know.

If you are a friend of mine that was planning to buy me a Christmas present this year, I would rather you give the equivalent amount to this than buy me anything. And I know you were gonna spend $100, right?

I AM SO EXCITED!!!

Update: More information about the family is here and my deadline for accepting contributions is Sunday, December 17 to give me time to get everything ready for delivery on December 19.

Click the button below to use PayPal, and let the good karma begin!!! THANK YOU!!!

There’s GOT to be things in here Momma can donate. Geesh! Collect much?